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Employers defend safety record and reject accusations of poor treatment

Secret footage obtained exclusively by 7.30 revealed bed rolls and dirty sheets next to the baggage carousel in the staff-only area of Sydney Airport's international terminal.

Napping between shifts is a result of the "Americanisation" of the Australian workforce, according to the Transport Workers Union (TWU).

Split shifts that start early and finish late and limited guaranteed hours mean it is not worth workers' while — financially or timewise — to return home when they are rostered off, according to the union.

Workers have voiced concerns that fatigue levels are putting safety at risk.

'We end up sleeping under the terminal'

Driver George Orsaris believes he will lose his job for speaking with 7.30, but wants to expose working conditions at his employer, Aerocare.

"We get pushed to our limits. Our pay doesn't match it. We don't get rest breaks and we get given a four-hour shift in the morning and then we have a four-or-five-hour break and get a four-hour shift in the afternoon," he said.

"It is barely enough time to sleep by the time you get home, get up and have to go to work again. So we end up sleeping under the terminal where all the baggage goes between."

Aerocare rejects accusations of 'poor treatment'

Aerocare said it provided full-time positions wherever possible, but that its rostering was to a large extent determined by the airlines' flight schedules.

It said 97 per cent of employees voted in favour of the current enterprise bargaining agreement.

"Aerocare strongly refutes any allegations or assertions … inferring poor treatment or under-payment of its employees," a spokesman said.

The company said it provided better job security and working conditions than many of its competitors and had committed to increasing pay rates by 5 per cent across the board.

"Aerocare has invested millions of dollars to improve the quality of its rostering so as to maximise the duration of shifts, with the goal of securing more contracts which would enable Aerocare to offer employees longer shifts and further viable full-time positions," the spokesman said.

Aerocare's most recent financial statement to the corporate regulator showed net profits were up more than 20 per cent to $13.5 million in the 2016 financial year.

Mr Sheldon said that other companies were now replicating the wages and conditions of workers at Aerocare, which is owned by private equity firm Archer Capital.

"We've seen the Americanisation of the Australian workforce in the aviation industry and yet we've seen executive bonuses increase, we've seen airport profits in the billions and this future is really something that beholds for everybody across the Australian workforce," he said.